


Kindred 2: The Lawyer

by torturingtaylor (itzaimster)



Series: Kindred Series [2]
Category: Hanson
Genre: Brothers, Clones, Conspiracy, Gen, Genetics, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-09 06:36:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7790692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itzaimster/pseuds/torturingtaylor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With a little help from Alex the twins attempt to rescue Colin, while his disappearance takes the Hanson brothers to Chicago. Things heat up between Taylor and his father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

“Can you see anything?” Carey asked worriedly.  
“Not yet,” came Mark’s reply, “are we sure this is the place?”  
“This is the place,” Alex confirmed, eyes darting across his double screen, “you’re heading the right way.”  
“How can you tell?” Mark paused with a frown.  
“I’m tracking your headset.”  
Mark rolled his eyes, hearing Carey smirk.  
“You really are prepared,” Carey appreciated, pulling cutlery from the kitchen drawer as he one-handedly set the table.  
“I have to be,” Alex replied absently.  
“So if this is the place, why don’t I see any guards?” Mark squinted over the dark compound in front of him.  
“There aren’t many on staff,” Alex replied.  
“Remember, it’s not a jail,” Carey pointed out, fetching plates now, “it’s a lab. You don’t need that many guards for biology based research. It’s the disease centers they need to watch.”  
“Right.”  
“How many guards are we talking?” Mark sighed.  
“According to employment records there should be two on staff tonight, and their shift change is coming up in an hour,” Alex informed, “you won’t have much time once it starts.”  
“Do we know for sure if he’s even being guarded?” Mark shrugged to himself.  
“I’d say he’s one of their most important assets right now,” Carey put in, “but considering the project, they might not even know who or what he is. Speculation only but I don’t think you’ll have a problem once you get in there.”  
“I should be able to verify that,” Alex murmured, fingertips darting across the keyboard, “okay I’m in. I have surveillance on the main areas but none of the labs themselves. Not unexpected.”  
“Do you know where he is?” Carey was worried.  
“I knew where he was the day we left,” Alex mused, “don’t worry, I got this.”  
“You better ‘got this’,” Mark muttered, “tell me where to go.”  
“Head down the right side of the building, there should be a drain at the back,” Alex instructed, “that’s your way in.”  
“And when I get there?”  
“It doesn’t look hard to open but I’m seeing it through a substandard CCTV lens,” Alex shrugged, “just head down, and if we lose contact just look for the ventilation system. It should lead into the building.”  
“Be careful,” Carey insisted, heading back to the stove.  
“What do I do once I’m there?” Mark’s eyes locked onto a vehicle approaching the main gate.  
“Once you’re in the building we should have signal back. I’ll guide you,” Alex promised.  
“Here goes nothing.”  
Mark waited until the vehicle was out of sight before slipping out from behind the trees. He sat in order to skid himself down the sandy embankment, before approaching the wire fence and pulling bolt cutters from his belt. He made a hole only large enough to squeeze through before dropping the cutters to the ground and cautiously heading for the building.  
He easily spotted the drain and headed straight for it. Worried for a moment there’d be a padlock he was glad to find the dirt around it only hid a clasp. He lifted it before pulling a small flashlight from his pocket and switching it on before putting it in his mouth.  
“Everything okay?” Carey’s voice came through his ear piece.  
Mark rolled his eyes again not bothering to reply. He climbed down onto the ladder and pulled the grate closed over his head before looking down in order to light his way. He couldn’t see anything but straight down to begin with, but once he’d gone down about ten steps he could see a shadow that looked to be a landing.  
Careful to not slip on the wet rungs, he managed to twist himself into the smaller tunnel head first. He couldn’t quite crawl on hands and knees and opted to army crawl instead.  
“You still there?” he pulled the light from his mouth to ask.  
“We’re here,” Alex confirmed, “there should be an upward vent about three yards ahead.”  
Mark paused to shine the light further down, spotting another shadow up ahead.  
“Can you see it?”  
“Yeah I see it,” Mark grumbled, returning the light to his mouth and crawling forward again.  
Carey jumped as the timer on his oven went off and continued trying to prepare dinner. It was hard to concentrate knowing what his brother was doing.  
Mark found the shaft and managed to contort himself so he was standing and could climb upward again. Realising there weren’t any steps however, he paused to work out how.  
“How far up?” he asked, voice quieter now he knew he was getting close.  
“About half as far as you came down,” Alex replied.  
“Right.”  
Mark clenched the light in his teeth once again before spreading his hands against the metal shaft and testing the weight it could hold. It felt secure and didn’t make a noise, so he lifted himself and managed to climb with the pressure from his hands and feet. He climbed a little past the landing so he could twist himself inside again.  
“Are you there?” Alex’s voice came through apprehensively.  
“Yeah,” Mark caught his breath.  
“You shouldn’t have to climb anymore. Head on forward and I’ll tell you when to turn. You’ll have to pass some guards so try and stay quiet.”  
“Done,” Mark turned the light off and slipped it into his back pocket, able to see with the light coming from scattered air vents in all directions.  
He began forward, careful to keep his weight evenly distributed. He could hear voices up ahead but they were some distance away yet.  
Carey looked up as he heard the apartment door open and he nearly dropped the dish he was holding. He quickly set it on the stove top before leaving the kitchen.  
“Hey,” his fiancé smiled when she saw him.  
“Hey,” he replied softly, quickly giving her a kiss on the cheek.  
Her face fell when she realised he was on the phone.  
“Dinner’s nearly ready,” he kept his voice low so as not to distract Mark.  
She nodded before setting her things down and making for the bedroom to get herself ready.  
“Okay six feet and turn left,” Alex instructed, “you should have eyes on the room soon.”  
Mark didn’t reply, opting to keep quiet just in case.  
Carey nestled the phone between his ear and shoulder as he returned to preparing dinner, blowing on it to cool it before taking it to the table. His fiancé reappeared as he was fetching their drinks and before either Mark or Alex had made another sound.  
“Who’s on the phone?” she asked, taking a seat.  
“Mark,” he replied straight.  
“Is he doing something stupid again?” she sounded tired.  
“Of course he is,” Carey muttered, also taking a seat.  
“You know he’s not your problem, right?” she leant forward a little, “you shouldn’t have to clean up after him all the time.”  
“This time it’s my problem,” Carey insisted.  
“And what time won’t be?” she frowned.  
“Are you gonna eat or not?” Carey grabbed his glass and took a sip, already less than half focused on her.  
“Are you going to get a job?” she hit back, “don’t forget mine is paying for this little adventure you two are currently on.”  
“It’s not an adventure,” his eyes narrowed, “you can’t tell me you wouldn’t be doing the same thing if it were you.”  
“You haven’t even told me what you two are doing,” she scowled.  
“Because you wouldn’t want to know,” he set the glass down again, “and you not knowing gives you plausible deniability in case something goes wrong.”  
“Oh great,” she rolled her eyes, “so it’s something illegal.”  
Carey shrugged, not willing to say either way.  
“Care…”  
“Look I’m sorry that you feel put out right now,” he insisted, talking with his free hand, “but this is _really_ important and I swear I wouldn’t be on the phone at dinnertime unless it was. We can honestly have this out afterward but I really need to concentrate.”  
Emma pouted a little before rolling her eyes and starting to eat. Carey grit his teeth knowing that wasn’t a good sign.  
“Trouble in paradise?” Alex’s amused voice came through.  
“No,” Carey insisted, “is he still moving?”  
Emma raised a brow at that.  
“He is. It’s not too much further.”  
Carey looked down at his food, suddenly unsure if he could stomach it. He was getting a feeling of dread in his gut and hoped fervently that Mark didn’t feel the same.  
Mark had found the turn and from Alex’s instruction was about to make another. He paused when he realised someone was walking beneath him.  
“Everything okay?” Alex asked with concern.  
Mark cursed in his head. Of course he wasn’t going to answer with the guards so close by. He closed his eyes to listen to their conversation as they stopped nearby, not willing to move until they did. It wasn’t even anything interesting – they were talking about football.  
Gritting his teeth knowing that his deadline was looming, he sighed internally when they finally moved on.  
“Guards,” he whispered, waiting a little longer to be sure.  
“They must be heading out,” Alex checked his watch, “they’re early.”  
“What does that mean?”  
“Hopefully nothing for us, it just might make your getaway interesting.”  
“That’s not a word I want to hear,” Carey frowned.  
“Worse comes I’ll create a distraction,” Alex shrugged to himself, “I can set off the sprinklers or something and make it look like their fault.”  
“You have entirely too much power at hand,” Carey insisted, making Alex smirk.  
Mark continued to crawl forward, being more careful now that he knew the guards were definitely around. When he made it to the designated air vent he tried to look through, but the gradient of the vent made it hard to see if anyone was in the room.  
“I can’t see anything, but it doesn’t sound like anyone’s home,” he whispered.  
“He has to be there,” Alex frowned, “there’s nowhere else, and this room was designated as C-3 on the intranet map.”  
“I don’t know what that means but I don’t hear anything and all the lights are on. Maybe he’s back in a cage like we were to start with?”  
“No, they moved him. Just trust me,” Alex insisted, “he’s there.”  
“He must have heard you by now,” Carey reasoned, “just get it over with. The sooner you can grab him and get out, the better.”  
Mark inspected the vent, already worried that it was too small to get himself through. But it came apart easily with the tools he’d brought along and he awkwardly set it aside before taking another look inside the room.  
“He’s here,” he realised aloud before pulling himself from the vent and stretching his back for the first time since he’d started.  
“Yes!” Carey exalted under his breath.  
“I hope he appreciates all this,” Alex said absently, keeping his eye on the CCTV screens.  
“Probably not,” Carey shrugged, “you don’t know him like we do. He’s not exactly the grateful ‘type’.”  
Mark kept his eye on the door as he made his way to the bed. It looked like a hospital gurney that had been haphazardly wheeled into the room.  
He couldn’t help but stare. Colin lay on the gurney with his wrists, torso and ankles strapped in medical grade restraints. He had a breathing tube in his nose and a heartrate monitor attached to his finger. It appeared obvious that he’d been unconscious for a long time.  
The monitors beside the bed showed a steady rate but Mark had no idea what anything else even was. Some kind of clear solution was in a bag connected to an IV line but none of the scientific names on the packaging even looked real to him.  
“Mark?” Alex’s voice came through, not having seen him move for a while.  
“What are you doing?” Carey frowned, “you both need to get out! Don’t waste time!”  
“Yeah…” Mark was still looking Colin over, “…that’s going to be a problem.”


	2. Part Two

“It’s a sedative,” Alex revealed after looking up the names Mark sent him, “they’re keeping him sedated. What the hell!”  
“Mark you have to get out of there,” Carey had given up on dinner and retreated to the kitchen where Emma wouldn’t see him stressing.  
“Wait!” Alex insisted, “take the IV line out. We might have time to wake him up.”  
“But how good is he gonna be?” Mark frowned, “I can’t drag him through the vents, it’s not gonna work!”  
“We don’t know what they’ve done to him,” Carey’s other hand was in his hair, “he might not even be able to walk.”  
“We have to try, we’ve come this far,” Alex insisted.  
“I should have been there,” Carey muttered to himself.  
“You’re still being tracked, you would have got us caught,” Mark berated.  
“Take the IV out!” Alex’s voice rose, “the longer you wait the less likely this’ll work!”  
Mark hesitated, arguing with himself, before making his way to Colin’s right arm. Deciding to leave the strap around his wrist fastened, he winced and pulled a face as he carefully removed the IV line. He wasn’t entirely sure he’d done it right but the needle was out and there wasn’t much blood to speak of.  
“It’s out,” he updated.  
“Has he been tagged?” Carey asked, “check his left wrist.”  
Mark let the line fall to the floor before making his way around the bed. This time he had to release Colin’s wrist in order to check it over.  
“Yeah he’s tagged,” he said once he’d found the chip.  
“Get it out,” Alex insisted.  
Mark pulled a switchblade from his pocket and flicked it open before setting Colin’s arm at the right angle on the bed. Using his left pointer finger as a guide, he kept his eye on Colin’s face as he slid the blade under the skin. When he got no reaction he instead focused on the task at hand, and he soon had the bloodied chip free.  
“It’s out,” he said again, “where do you want it?”  
“Put it under the mattress if you can, we don’t want it moving too far,” Alex pointed out, “hopefully no one’s watching right now.”  
“There’s no reason if they think he’s unconscious,” Carey reasoned.  
“Stranger things have happened,” Mark muttered, doing as instructed.  
He wiped the blood off on the white sheets before putting the knife away again.  
“He’s not coming to, so what do I do?” he gave the door another glance.  
“Are there any cabinets in the room?” Alex asked.  
“Yeah,” Mark looked around, “like medicine cabinets?”  
“That’s a good sign,” Alex said under his breath, “see if you can find anything labelled ‘epinephrine’.”  
“How the fuck do you spell that?” Mark was already looking through, grabbing a few smaller bottles of medications he recognised and slipping them into his pants.  
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Carey frowned, “you should try ammonia first.”  
“I’m not a doctor,” Alex shrugged, “I was guessing.”  
Mark paused, holding back a frustrated groan. But he knew better than to doubt his brother when it came to biology.  
“Ammonia?” he had to confirm.  
“Yeah it could be in any form,” Carey cautioned, “but it should be salt. You’ll need to break it under his nose.”  
“Like in the movies?” Mark checked.  
“Just like the movies. It’ll work, trust me.”  
“Got it,” Mark grabbed one of the sticks and hastily unwrapped it.  
He took it straight to the bed and leant over toward Colin’s face in order to snap the stick under his nose. Colin’s eyes shot open.  
“Whoa!” Mark jumped back as Colin immediately jumped up.  
“Where am I?!” he demanded, eyes blinking furiously.  
“You need to keep your voice down,” Mark insisted, coming back to unstrap his right wrist.  
“Where am I?” Colin’s voice only grew more stern.  
“I don’t know where the fuck you are, okay?” Mark insisted, “but if you don’t shut the hell up you’re going to get us _both_ caught.”  
Colin fell back onto the bed as Mark worked to remove the other restraints. By the time Mark had them free Colin was a lot more aware of his surroundings. The first thing he did was look at his left wrist.  
“You cut it out?” his voice croaked.  
“I did. So they won’t follow us,” Mark confirmed, “we have to go.”  
Colin sat up once he was able to and slowly worked his way from the bed. He was unsteady on his feet and had to pause to balance himself.  
“How long have I been here?” he asked.  
“How long before you fell asleep?” Mark asked, heading back for the vent.  
“After you left?” Colin shook his head, “they attacked me the following morning. They must have put me under when I fought back.”  
“You’ve been here nearly two weeks,” Mark fell to a crouch.  
“That’s impossible,” Colin frowned.  
“It’s not,” Mark said matter-of-fact, “so let’s blow this popsicle stand already.”  
“Through there?” Colin pulled a face when he saw where Mark was.  
“Unless you want to get shot,” Mark smiled back.  
Colin groaned.  
“And again – you might want to shut the hell up.”  
“Is he moving?” Carey asked.  
“Slowly,” Mark grumbled.  
“What?”  
“Ladies first,” Mark indicated the vent, “head right and turn right at the end. I’ll follow you.”  
Colin grunted to himself but slowly complied. Mark waited until he was well inside the vent before following and replacing the grate. The less obvious their escape route was, the better chance they had of using it again if they needed to.  
“Head back the same way you came, it should be a clear exit,” Alex assured, “let me know if you hear anything.”  
Mark relayed instructions to Colin who abided by them, but he couldn’t help but grimace every time Colin made a noise. He certainly wasn’t used to being this kind of cautious.   
He groaned when they made it to the drain and Mark had to egg him on. At first he had trouble holding himself up because his arms were still weak, but now that his natural adrenaline was pumping he managed to keep himself climbing. He struggled at first with the drain cover but eventually found himself crawling into the open air. For Colin, it was a surprise that it was night.  
“Come on,” Mark lowered the grate again before leading him toward the bank.  
Colin hugged himself, already feeling the cold, but followed. He had a little trouble getting through the wire fence and Mark begrudgingly helped. When they made it back to the trees Mark had started at Mark opened a bag and pulled out a black hoodie which he promptly put on.  
“We’re out,” was the first thing he said.  
“Stick to the main highways and you shouldn’t have a problem,” Alex warned.  
“No one’s noticed anything?” Carey was worried.  
“No one’s moved,” Mark assured.  
“I got nothing on CCTV,” Alex agreed, “I think you’re good.”  
“Mark out,” he pulled his phone from his pocket, “see you in a few hours Care.”  
He hung up the call and pulled the Bluetooth piece from his ear.  
“Where are we?” Colin asked, still hugging himself as Mark emptied his pockets into the bag.  
“Nevada,” Mark revealed, “somewhere in the desert. I don’t know, I didn’t ask. Put this on.”  
He was holding out another hoodie.  
“I’m not wearing that,” Colin scoffed.  
“You’re wearing white,” Mark scorned, “you think they won’t see you ten miles away out here?!”  
Colin grit his teeth and took it from him. Once Mark had everything packed up he headed off into the dark. Colin followed closely, worried about losing him already. They came across a car hidden in trees beside the road and Mark threw his backpack into the back seat before getting in to drive.  
“Where are we going?” Colin frowned as he opened the other door.  
“Far away from here,” Mark insisted, “hurry up.”

Carey sighed as he leant back against the kitchen bench, glad that phase one was over. He threw the phone onto the bench and ran his fingers through his hair.  
“So did it work?”  
He jumped as Emma came into the kitchen, bringing with her an empty plate.  
“It did, I think,” he bit his lip, “they’ll be here in a few hours.”  
“They?”  
“Mark and Colin,” he rubbed his face.  
“Oh great,” she rolled her eyes, starting to stack the dishwasher.  
“We can’t send him home just yet, they’ll be looking for him,” Carey insisted.  
“Aren’t they always going to be looking for him?” she pointed out, “how long is he going to be here?!”  
“I don’t know!” his voice rose, “we just need to figure something out!”  
Emma closed the dishwasher and made to leave the room.  
“Your dinner’s cold,” she said on the way out.  
Carey bit his lip again, hating the situation already. He waited a moment until he heard her go into the bedroom before deciding to follow her.  
“I’m sorry to dump this on you all of a sudden,” he stood in the doorway to apologise, “but Mark wanted to do it tonight and Alex was ready and he just kinda took off for Nevada and I know we had this night planned out for… what are you doing?”  
He frowned when he realised she was packing a bag.  
“Are you going somewhere?” he asked when she didn’t reply.  
“Out. For the night,” she responded curtly, “I’m not going to be here when Colin is.”  
Carey paused, his mind racing.  
“Because of what happened in Chicago?” he frowned, “it was years ago.”  
“Maybe it doesn’t matter to you,” Emma turned on him, “but it matters to me, okay? Why can’t you see that!”  
“I’m sorry I forgot,” Carey insisted, making his way around the bed and getting in her way, “things have just been crazy since we were taken, and we just _had_ to help him!”  
“You had to,” she repeated, already annoyed that he was stopping her, “you could have left him there.”  
“What if it had been me?” he shrugged, “or Mark? Or Taylor? Would you have wanted the rest of them to leave one of us there?”  
“As if Colin would go after you,” she scorned, “you’re the only one with a bleeding heart, Care. For all I know the rest of them could be a bunch of assholes.”  
She pushed past him to go into the bathroom. He grimaced and rubbed his face, trying to come up with a fast resolution.  
“Where are you going?” he asked, “can I at least check up on you?”  
“I’ll stay at Rachel’s. You can call me in the morning.”  
Carey hesitated, pursing his lips.  
“Can I come too if Colin’s being an asshole?” he asked hopefully before she returned to the room.  
“Sorry,” she smiled sarcastically, “girl’s night only. He’s your problem – you can deal with him.”  
“I deserve that,” he agreed, watching as she zipped her bag and pulled it over her shoulder.  
“Don’t take any crap from him,” she ordered, a finger in his chest, “put him on the streets if you have to. Do not let him swindle you.”  
“I promise,” Carey insisted, “do I get a kiss goodbye?”  
Emma hesitated, her eyes narrowing. Not having gotten a ‘no’ Carey went for it.  
“Be careful,” she insisted.  
“You too,” he returned, following her from the room.  
He stood in the doorway to watch as she collected her keys and went for the door. She threw a single glance over her shoulder before disappearing. He waited until he couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore before going to fetch his cell phone from the kitchen. He took it with him back to the dining table where his cold meal sat, and took a seat with a sigh. Not bothered with heating it again he simply dug in. It would be a good eight hours or so before Mark would show up and he knew he had to get some sleep.


	3. Part Three

Carey jolted awake to a bright light in his eyes. Before he could push himself up on the bed he felt rough hands push his shoulder blades down, and he let out a surprised yelp when he realised at least two people were suddenly on top of him.  
“What the fuck?!” he exclaimed, trying to squint through the light.  
The person holding it stood by the bed and he could barely make out their silhouette. He more easily made out the shadow of the gun they were holding.  
“Stay down!” one of the men on the bed ordered, a gloved hand now holding his head down into the pillow as his arms were pulled behind him.  
“What do you want?!” Carey’s voice rose with his panic.  
“It’s definitely him,” the one holding the light assured.  
“Better safe,” a different voice above him insisted.  
Carey yelped again as his left arm was twisted back at an odd angle and he felt something hard against his wrist. A beep sounded followed by an automated voice.  
“ _Designation: C-2. Alias: Carey Miller._ ”  
“It’s him.”  
“What do you want?!” Carey repeated, trying in vain to move any part of his body.  
This had to be it - they were going to take him back. He’d never see Emma again.  
“Tell us where your brother is,” the one standing by the bed demanded.  
“My brother?” Carey frowned, before grunting as his head was pushed further down in warning.  
“Yes. Marcus Miller. He’s removed his tracking chip. Where is he?”  
Carey squeezed his eyes shut, still being blinded by the flashlight beam.  
“I don’t know,” he said.  
“What was that?” the one who had hold of his head taunted.  
“I don’t know!” Carey’s voice rose, “he hit the road! I haven’t seen him since Tuesday!”  
“I don’t believe you.”  
“It’s the truth! He was pissed off!”  
“His psych evaluation did point to anger issues,” a third voice came from the other side of the room.  
Carey shivered when he realised he was completely surrounded. He tried to stay still and silent as they deliberated, trying to work out what they were going to do.  
“Let him go,” the one with the flashlight muttered eventually, “we won’t find him here.”  
“Don’t fucking move,” the man straddling him warned, Carey nodding under his hand.  
He carefully pulled back, before he and his accomplice moved from the bed.  
“If you do hear from your brother,” the light wasn’t moving from his face, “make sure he knows it’d be doing you both a service if he turned himself in.”  
“I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Carey resisted the urge to cover his eyes, making sure he kept his hands where they could see them.  
“For your sake, I hope it does. Stay on the bed until we leave.”  
The light was finally pulled away, but only in time for Carey to see three shadows disappearing. He didn’t dare move as he listened for their footsteps heading for the front door, and even stayed down a minute or two after the door had closed.  
He closed his eyes and counted to ten, already wondering if he’d dreamt it. But he could feel his right eye already bruising and the thought of it pulled him from the bed.  
He turned the bedroom light on and made his way to the living area. He bee lined for the window and made it in time to see four men getting into a familiar white van in the street below. He stayed to watch it drive away before going for the phone.  
The first person he called was Emma.  
“Care it’s not even-“  
“Are you okay?” he cut her off, panic showing a little in his voice.  
“Uh… yeah, why?”  
“There’s nothing weird going on over there? There’s no one watching the apartment or anything?”  
“Care what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”  
Carey paused to bite his lip. He didn’t want her to worry, but he wanted her to be safe.  
“It’s nothing, I uh…” he quickly tried to blow off, “I just had a nightmare. I was worried. I’m sorry.”  
He heard her sigh and was thankful he hadn’t worried her.  
“Just go back to bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”  
“Okay. I’ll call you. Good night. I love you!”  
“Good night Care.”  
Carey took a deep breath once he’d hung up, biting into his hand as he worked out what to do next. Once he’d pulled himself together enough he dialled again.  
“What?” Mark’s voice grumbled.  
“You can’t come here,” Carey insisted, “I just had some familiar visitors. In the same white van that took us in.”  
“Are you fucking with me right now?”  
“They wanted to know where you were. I told them I hadn’t seen you since Tuesday.”  
“Well that’s not a lie,” Mark reasoned.  
“You can’t bring him here. You’ll have to take him to a motel or something. If you let me know where you end up I can come and meet you there.”  
“Well… we’re crossing the border shortly. Want me to call you when we land somewhere?”  
“Yeah, sure,” Carey agreed, “just keep an eye out. I don’t know how close they’re watching us.”  
“Don’t get followed.”  
“I know what I’m doing. Just keep Colin safe.”  
“That’s my job.”  
They hung up and Carey set the phone on the bench, hesitating as he looked across at the door. He suddenly darted for it to check that it hadn’t been broken in the intrusion. He both opened and closed it and nothing seemed out of place, which led him to believe they’d picked the locks. Making a mental note to talk to Emma about getting a chain for it, he headed back to the kitchen to get himself a drink. He wasn’t going to sleep again.

It was the early hours of the morning when Carey was startled awake by Mark’s phone call. As soon as the call ended he left the apartment. It took an extra half hour to drive to the motel Mark had chosen and he had trouble keeping himself awake, but he figured the further away the better. He had ample time to tell whether or not he was being followed and hoped the fact that it was well before sunrise was also in their favour.  
He double checked the note he’d written to make sure he got the right room and Mark quickly ushered him inside.  
“Hey,” he greeted Colin apprehensively, “how are you feeling?”  
“Tired,” he was obviously grumpy, “hungry.”  
“He wouldn’t eat McDonald’s and I wasn’t stopping somewhere to go in,” Mark walked past the table he sat at to go into the bathroom, “what happened to you?”  
“Four guys broke into the apartment while I was asleep,” Carey eyed him, “demanding to know where you were. I woke up to two of them on top of me and a gun in my face. It’s lucky Emma wasn’t there.”  
“You’re still with her?” Colin raised a brow.  
“And maybe they were waiting for her to leave,” Mark suggested, “so they could have you all to themselves.”  
“Maybe,” Carey was scowling at Colin who was otherwise ignoring him and picking at his nails, “your turn. What happened at the lab?”  
“I don’t know,” Colin shrugged.  
“Says he was unconscious the entire time,” Mark reappeared, wiping his hands on a towel, “they jumped him soon after I left. Knocked him out.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I wouldn’t co-operate,” Colin scorned, “and why should I have? What they are doing is obviously illegal.”  
“That doesn’t make them any less of a threat,” Carey pointed out, “in fact, it kinda makes them more of one.”  
“Whatever,” Colin muttered, “when can I get some food?”  
“You had the chance!” Mark scowled.  
“Some _proper_ food.”  
“You might not have much of a choice around these parts,” Carey warned, “we’re pretty far out and we can’t exactly walk into Walmart.”  
He took out his phone.  
“Search for something deliverable and order it,” he put it on the table for Colin to take before eyeing Mark again, “a word?”  
Colin took the phone as Mark and Carey stepped outside. There was no one around at this time so they weren’t too worried about being seen.

“So it doesn’t look like the plan’s going to work,” Carey spoke first.  
Mark looked back at the door.  
“I can’t drive him back to Chicago,” he shook his head, “not before the deadline.”  
“And he can’t exactly call it in,” Carey reasoned, “Alex already tried that.”  
“We could sleep on it,” Mark suggested, “see how he goes after eating something. Guy looked half dead when I picked him up, he already looks better.”  
“That looks better?” Carey grimaced.  
“Yeah,” Mark insisted.  
“Shit.”  
“Or…” Mark suggested coyly, “we could send someone in his place.”  
“None of us look like Colin,” Carey frowned.  
“You would, if you cut your hair,” Mark pointed out.  
“But I have no reason to be in Chicago, and I’m still being tracked,” Carey held his wrist up for emphasis.  
“Well the only other option is-“  
“No,” Carey cut him off, “we are not involving Taylor in this.”  
“Why not?” Mark scoffed, “you’re the one who brought him into this in the first place.”  
Carey hesitated, taken aback.  
“That was entirely your fault!” he scorned.  
“I just ran the guy over, I didn’t invite him into the club,” Mark’s hands went up innocently, “we could have walked away and he’d still think he was going crazy.”  
“I’m not arguing this with you,” Carey insisted.  
“No one else would have a reason to be in Chicago,” Mark went on, “Taylor travels all the time, and he’s the only one aside from you who could pull Colin off. He’d probably be even better at it than you.”  
Carey groaned and stepped aside.  
“If this is some stupid pride thing because you told him you’d never need his help-“  
“That’s not it,” Carey insisted.  
“-consider my position. You know I wanted the guy dead.”  
Carey gave him an odd look.  
“So if I’m saying we need his help that means I know how fucked we are.”

“Find anything?”  
Colin looked over his shoulder as they came back into the room.  
“Yeah,” he quickly rubbed his face, setting the phone aside so Carey could retrieve it.  
“…Everything okay?” Carey was wary as he slowly picked it up.  
“What kind of question is that?” Mark scorned, moving past to sit in an opposite chair.  
“No it’s not,” Colin ignored him, “I just lost two weeks of my life. Who knows what else this has lost me?”  
“What do you mean?” Mark obviously didn’t care but had noticed Carey’s subtle eye roll and decided to egg him on.  
“My career is a steady balance of vigilance and timekeeping,” Colin insisted, “I have deadlines. I have meetings. If I suddenly disappear, I lose clients. They could be in jail or gunned down on the streets, who knows! When that happens, my reputation is tarnished. That takes a long time to repair.”  
“Sounds like it’s happened before,” Carey was glaring at Mark who was trying not to smirk out loud.  
“I went on a bender after my first bachelor party and got lost in Havana for five days. How was I supposed to know they don’t speak American?” he blew off.  
Mark’s eyebrows rose.  
“So how did you come back from that?” Carey was still trying to help, “if you did it once you can do it again.”  
“Two weeks is a lot more than five days,” Colin spoke as if Carey were stupid, “if my clients aren’t dead I’ll have enough trouble regaining their trust. This is provided my second wife hasn’t just moved in a new boyfriend and stolen all my stuff.”  
“Who could blame her?” Mark muttered.  
“Well you’re not going anywhere for a while,” Carey quickly covered, “but we might have a temporary solution for the deal we know is going down in two days.”  
“Excuse me?” Colin looked up.  
“We had Alex look up your files,” Mark put his feet up on the next chair comfortably, “most of your cases he managed to delay or palm off to someone else, but we know there’s an important one coming up that you couldn’t really miss.”  
“My files are encrypted, there’s no way-“  
“There was a way and we found it,” Carey assured, “but we did it to help you. And us.”  
“Mostly us,” Mark nodded.  
“But we found out that you needed to be there in person for this one so…”  
“Is that why you broke me out?” Colin frowned, “for the Russo case?”  
“Yeah,” Carey matched his look, “we all know D’Angelo Russo is a dangerous guy, I mean he’s been on the news all over.”  
“We can’t let you fuck this case up and have your face plastered all over this,” Mark insisted, “whether it’s because you go down as the worst lawyer in history or because they decide to take you out.”  
“So this is because of your stupid low profile rules,” Colin realised, “despite the fact that this deal could make me millions.”  
“We don’t care about your money,” Mark smirked.  
“But we might have a solution, a temporary one,” Carey went on, “it’s not one that I like, but we can’t get you back by Monday and it’s all we could think of in time.”


	4. Part Four

“How about no,” Taylor’s eyes narrowed.  
“We would not ask if we weren’t desperate,” Carey insisted.  
“I’m aware,” Taylor assured, “considering how our last call ended.”  
“I know and I’m sorry,” it killed Carey to apologise, “but you still have the tracker in your arm, right?”  
“Yeah,” Taylor shrugged.  
“You’re the only one of us who could pull Colin off who would have a reason to be in Chicago on Monday.”  
“But I don’t have a reason,” Taylor insisted, “in fact I’m supposed to be working at the studio on Monday.”  
“What if we got you a gig?” Carey suggested, “I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard for Alex to pull off.”  
“Two days’ notice for a cross-state gig isn’t exactly something we’re known for pulling off.”  
“We’ll make it acoustic, I don’t care! We need you there!”  
“We?”   
“Yes! All of us! If ‘Colin’ doesn’t make this deal, we could all be in trouble!”  
“Wouldn’t the scientists care about that more than us?” Taylor pointed out, “I mean why would they take him, and keep him, if this was all going to go public?”  
“Maybe they thought keeping him out of the way was the best idea,” Carey shrugged, “maybe they figure people go missing all the time and no one would notice. I don’t know, okay?! But I know who he’s dealing with and if Colin doesn’t show his face on Monday we’ll either have a media shit storm to cover up or one of us is going to die.”  
“So you want to put me in the firing line instead?” Taylor realised, “can’t you just put him on a plane home?”  
“He’s not well enough, they’ve had him under sedation for too long,” Carey’s voice lowered, “it’ll be a few days before we can get him back on his feet.”  
“Carey…”  
“Wait, did I mention I was attacked in my sleep last night?”   
There was a pause on the other end and Carey knew he had his attention.  
“Luckily my fiancé wasn’t home,” he went on, “I’m sure she wouldn’t have appreciated waking up to a gun in her face.”  
“Why?” Taylor demanded.  
“Because they wanted to know where Mark was while he was out rescuing Colin.”  
“How did they not know? Doesn’t he have-“  
“He cut his tracer out on Tuesday, I told them he hit the road. It wasn’t a lie,” Carey shrugged, “he’s cut Colin’s out too so they couldn’t be followed.”  
“Are you with them?”  
“No,” Carey replied, “I was, but I left. I still have mine. But I don’t doubt that if I cut it out I’ll get another not-so-friendly visit.”  
There was another pause on the line and Carey could tell Taylor’s mind was racing.  
“It’s two days, tops,” he pushed, “and you’ll probably get a paid gig out of it.”  
“How long do I have to be Colin?”  
“Just this one meeting as far as I know. It’s Monday at one.”  
“And Alex can-“  
“Alex can organise it all, I’ll have him let you know when to be at the airport,” Carey promised.  
“I can’t believe this,” Taylor muttered.  
“Thanks for this it’s a big help bye!” Carey rushed to say before ending the call.  
He took a deep breath as he threw the phone onto the passenger seat before paying attention to the road again. He had to get home and call Emma again.  
Then he’d have to call Alex.

“You’re kidding,” Isaac said straight out.  
“I’m not,” Taylor assured.  
“Shepherd’s got a game on Monday, I can’t just pick up and leave!” Zac scorned.  
“Ezra’s got one too,” Taylor shrugged, “it’s not like we haven’t done it before.”  
“How am I supposed to explain this to Kate? Nat knows what’s going on, she doesn’t!”  
“Don’t,” Taylor treated it as obvious, “don’t tell her. Just say we had something come up last minute.”  
Zac groaned and rubbed his face.  
“How important is this?” Isaac tried to reason.  
“Very. Or I wouldn’t consider it. At all,” Taylor insisted.  
“You can’t just go for a flying visit?” Zac suggested, “why do we need to fake a gig?”  
“It’ll be a real gig.”  
“Publicity,” Isaac put together, “people are going to notice Tay walking around Chicago, and the people from the lab will track him there.”  
“Carey doesn’t want anyone to know why I’m there,” Taylor agreed.  
“Don’t forget Mom and Dad get back on Wednesday,” Zac added.  
“We can’t exactly call up Dee and Andrew this late…” Isaac began.  
“He said he’d organise it so it was acoustic,” Taylor cut him off, “we should only need Mike and Bex to come with us and minimal gear.”  
“And what’s this going to cost us?” Zac rested his chin in his hand.  
“I don’t know yet,” Taylor admitted as his cell phone suddenly rang.  
He quickly pulled it from his pocket, checked the caller ID, then held it up for them to see.  
“But we might be about to find out,” he said before answering, “hello, Alex?!”  
“I didn’t know he had Alex’s number,” Zac leant over to say quietly to Isaac.  
“He didn’t,” Isaac replied.  
“Taylor,” his voice came through, and Taylor wasn’t prepared for him to sound so much like Carey, “Carey called and filled me in, and I managed to get you a gig in Chicago on Monday afternoon.”  
“What’s the deal?” Taylor eyed his brothers who were waiting somewhat impatiently.  
“A guest pulled out of a slot on the Steve Harvey show and I sent a few emails and moved a few schedules and you’re in. They just need you and your guitars, and… whatever else you guys use.”  
“The Steve Harvey show?” Taylor raised a brow, making Zac frown.  
“You have to be at the studio by 4pm so they can pre-record everything. I can send you the address.”  
“Since when does he take on musical guests?” Taylor had to ask.  
“Well… it might be more than just playing. I might have mentioned you’ve got the anniversary tour coming up and…”  
“We don’t have anything finalised! What are we supposed to tell them?!” Taylor was already panicking.  
“I don’t know, make something up!”  
Taylor’s eyes rolled.  
“Your flight leaves tomorrow at 12:30 and gets in at 2:25. American Airlines flight 3390. Who’s going?”  
“Uh…” Taylor looked back at his brothers, “us, Bex and Mike.”  
“Done. Return flight Tuesday at 4:25pm gets in at 8:12 flight number AA1370.”  
“I didn’t even give you our full names,” Taylor scratched his head with a frown.  
“I have them.”  
Taylor held back a curse, once again wondering what he was getting not only himself but his crew into.  
“Are we good?” Alex asked after a moment’s pause.  
“I guess we are,” Taylor was anything but enthusiastic.  
“Carey suggested you might want to go by Colin’s place and get some clothes… probably an idea to get the paperwork you need too. He says it’s all in a briefcase in his closet ready to go.”  
“That doesn’t sound suspicious at all,” Taylor was sarcastic.  
“I’ll text you the address when you’re on the ground in Chicago. I’ve got your accommodation under Bex’s name at The Langham.”  
“That’s a little out of our price range,” Taylor cautioned.  
“It’s all taken care of. Good luck.”  
“But what-“  
Taylor flinched as Alex suddenly hung up.  
“What happened?” Isaac asked worriedly.  
Taylor took a moment to gather his thoughts.  
“I guess we’re going to Chicago,” he shrugged.

“Hey, are you okay?” Carey was sure to lock the door behind him before going to check the window.  
“I’m fine. Is he there?”  
“He’s not here,” Carey insisted, “I told him to stay away. He’s not coming.”  
He heard Emma sigh with relief and mentally hoped she’d come straight home.  
“Where’s he staying?”  
“Out of the city somewhere. He has to stay put for a few days to heal up,” Carey assured, “they kept him sedated the whole time, we don’t know what that’s done to his body.”  
“Did it make him any nicer?” she teased.  
“Sadly I doubt it,” Carey mused, “when are you coming home?”  
“Probably after lunch, we’re just heading into the city now,” she replied making his face fall, “we could go for takeout tonight if you wanted?”  
“Sounds great,” he smiled again, “text me when you’re on your way.”  
“I will.”  
“Love you.”  
Carey sighed as he ended the call, leaning back against the kitchen bench. He resisted the urge to call Taylor and find out how Alex went. It hadn’t been too long since he’d called him to begin with.  
Before he had time to think it over further, the phone rang. As he went to pick it up he saw that it was Alex.  
“How did it go?” he asked, expecting the worst.  
“Taylor’s all set, he leaves Sunday – tomorrow – and comes back Tuesday,” Alex assured, “I was actually calling to talk about something else.”  
“Really?” Carey’s brow rose.  
“Yeah your visitors last night.”  
“What about them?”  
“I managed to trace them back to a place in the city. I think it might be a base for the labs to keep tabs on their LA assets. Of which… you are one.”  
“Did you ID the four guys?” Carey frowned.  
“Not formally but I’m about 90% sure they’re the same ones who picked you and Mark up… from what I could see of old surveillance. They were watching Mark’s place for a week before we were taken in.”  
Carey rubbed his face, wondering how someone like Mark wouldn’t have noticed. But then it was around the same time he’d gone after Taylor. Maybe he hadn’t even been home.  
“And mine?” he was worried to ask.  
“Uh… the easy answer is that we were all being watched. You, Mark, Taylor, Colin and Jesse. Even me. I’m only sorry I didn’t notice it when it was happening.”  
“But you weren’t watching us,” Carey frowned, “not all the time.”  
“No,” Alex agreed, “but I should have seen something. It would have been obvious if I’d bothered looking outside once in a while.”  
Carey paused at that not sure what to say. Alex hadn’t really elaborated on his living situation and he hadn’t wanted to intrude by asking. He still wasn’t even sure what state he was from.  
“We won’t blame you,” he assured, “I mean we didn’t even know you were out there until it was too late.”  
When Alex didn’t reply Carey bit his lip worriedly.  
“Do I need to be on guard with these guys? If they’re staying in LA?” he changed subject slightly.  
“I can keep an eye on them for you if you just stay by the phone,” Alex promised, “unless I’m asleep I can warn you when they’re coming.”  
“Thanks.”


	5. Part Five

“This is a bad idea already I can tell,” Zac shook his head, his brow furrowed, “you should not be going off on your own.”  
“It’s gonna be weird if people see Colin with either of you,” Taylor defended, “you just have to trust me on this.”  
“You won’t have long between this meeting and when we have to be at the studio,” Isaac cautioned, pulling his satchel strap higher on his shoulder, “what time did you want to leave tomorrow?”  
“I’ll decide once I see the house,” Taylor shrugged, “hopefully I can just take a change of clothes and the briefcase back to The Langham and go from there.”  
“This is becoming like a Superman/Clark Kent thing,” Zac looked to Isaac, “he’s gonna show up at the studio and rip off a business suit and be ready to rock’n’roll.”  
Isaac broke into a laugh at the visual.  
“I’m glad you’re getting something out of this,” Taylor’s eyes narrowed, “because the whole studio thing is dependent on my not getting shot tomorrow.”  
“If anyone can talk their way out of it, it’s you,” Isaac assured with a smile as their cab finally pulled up, “we’ll see you at the hotel.”  
“Have fun,” Taylor waved as they, Bex and Mike all loaded the van.  
He was soon pointed to the next cab, and considering he had no luggage with him he ended up pulling out before they did.  
“60 East Monroe Street,” he directed the driver as he pulled out his phone to text Natalie.

The drive took nearly an hour and Taylor wasn’t entirely sure he’d come to the right building once he got there. But he slipped his sunglasses on and pulled his hat down after paying the driver and before getting out. He made his way into the lobby of the building before making the dreaded call.  
“That you Taylor?” came a voice that couldn’t be Colin.  
“Yeah,” he replied, “I’m here. Where do I go?”  
He heard Mark passing Colin the phone.  
“Head for the lockers,” he sounded disinterested, “ignore Ronaldo, he’ll try and help you.”  
Taylor looked up toward the elevators, clearly seeing the doorman waiting.  
“And where are the lockers?” he asked, unable to see them.  
“Go up two floors, there’s a common area for residents only.”  
Taylor took a deep breath before heading for the elevators. He felt extremely out of place, and even a bit dirty.  
“Good afternoon Mr Reis,” the doorman smiled.  
Taylor gave him a nod as the door opened, and he quickly stepped inside. He pressed for the second floor before Ronaldo could offer to. Obviously used to Colin ignoring him, he stepped aside and didn’t speak again before the door closed.  
Taylor let his breath go hoping he wouldn’t have to front anyone else.  
Colin guided him toward the lockers and gave him the key code to his. Inside he found a leather satchel which held an extra door key in its side pocket.  
“Why do you even have a spare key at the building?” Taylor asked absently, not expecting an answer.  
“You know how it is, you come home late after a night out and can’t find the door let alone the key,” Colin murmured, “head up to the 70th floor.”  
‘Seventy?’ Taylor mouthed to himself, closing the locker again and making sure it wouldn’t open.  
He went back to the elevator and pressed for the floor. He hadn’t even thought the building would go that high, but he soon realised he’d entered through a sub-building before venturing into the skyscraper.  
He already wondered exactly what kind of financial profile Colin actually had.  
Once there Taylor was taken aback yet again to realise Colin’s ‘apartment’ was actually a penthouse that took up the entire floor. The ceiling-to-floor windows gave a 360 degree view of Chicago, the furnishings were minimalist, and the décor obviously the best of the best.  
“Okay,” he said aloud to himself.  
“The briefcase should be in my closet. I’ll have Mark send you the address for the meeting,” Colin said with finality.  
“What if your wife’s here?” Taylor was suddenly worried, pulling his scarf from his neck.  
“She shouldn’t be at this time of day. But she doesn’t speak much American so you shouldn’t have a problem. Just tell her you’re going out.”  
Taylor frowned at that as he continued looking around.  
“Okay,” he just hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with it.  
“Don’t screw this up,” Colin ordered before hanging up.  
Taylor scowled as he went to put his phone away, before pulling it up again and quickly video calling Isaac.  
“Hey how’s it going?” Isaac answered, visibly in his hotel room already.  
“Ike you should see this place, it’s insane!” Taylor exclaimed, “I mean are you seeing this?! Look at the view! This is this guy’s _house_. We couldn’t afford this in the 90’s!”  
“Well we probably could back then,” Isaac was squinting, looking at the view from the window behind his brother, “where are you?”  
“It’s called the Legacy building, we’re a few blocks from the water. I kinda want to steal stuff.”  
“Well you do have to steal stuff,” Isaac reasoned, “an entire briefcase, in fact.”  
“We should have stayed here instead of the hotel,” Taylor was walking through the rooms, already trying to find the bedroom.  
“I’m sure his wife would have loved that,” Isaac smirked.  
“They have so many bedrooms here I don’t know which is… oh wait, here we go.”  
Taylor darted into the main bedroom, located on the other side of the building. He took a moment to take in the room – and the view – before spying a wedding photo on the dresser. Curiosity took over and he went to have a look.  
“Hey Ike check this out,” he showed the screen.  
“Whoa, weird,” Isaac was squinting again, “that’s him?!”  
“And his wife, I guess,” Taylor shrugged, putting the photo back, “they don’t look particularly happy.”  
“Yeah it’s nothing like yours,” Isaac agreed, “plus it looks kinda new.”  
“I don’t know, I don’t know anything about him really,” Taylor shrugged, “I need to find this briefcase.”  
“I’ll let you go so you can concentrate. You’re coming straight here after, right?”  
“Yes. I won’t be long, I swear.”  
“I hope not.”  
Taylor ended the call and headed for the closet. The clothes inside made him pull a face. Every suit appeared to be color-coded and in its own slot, shoes and socks directly beneath them.  
“This guy is hard-core,” he said under his breath, before catching sight of himself in the large mirror at the back.  
He hesitated, mentally comparing himself to both the photo in the bedroom and to what he remembered seeing in Nevada. He realised he needed a shave just to begin with and maybe even some hair gel.  
With a wince he looked through for something at least semi-comfortable that he could wear the next day before going through some drawers to find some accessories. He came across a Rolex and some gold cufflinks that he slipped into his jean pocket before heading for the tie rack.  
He already wished Natalie were here to help.

Mark was just pulling his hoodie on so he could go out and get something to eat when his phone rang. Assuming it would be Taylor with more questions for Colin, he answered nonchalantly.  
“Run!” came a slightly different voice.  
“What?” Mark frowned, having seen Alex’s name on the caller ID.  
He looked up to the window when he heard a screech of tires outside.  
“They found you! I don’t know how! _Run!_ ”  
Mark pocketed the phone and took hold of Colin’s shoulder.  
“We’re leaving,” he ordered, pulling him to his feet and toward the door.  
“Get off me!” Colin threw him off, barely finding his feet.  
Mark grabbed the backpack which was already by the door and cradled it. The sight of the white van outside made him pause as the memories from two weeks earlier came flooding back.  
They thought they got a fight last time? He was angrier now.  
He opened the backpack and pulled out a handgun.  
“Where did you get that?” Colin’s brow rose, suddenly a little more intimidated.  
“You need to get your ass out to the car right now,” Mark ordered between his teeth, “because this is going to be hard enough without you being a monstrous dick in the process.”  
“What’s even going on?” Colin pulled on the hoodie Mark had made him wear before, watching as Mark had left the door open but hidden his body behind it from whoever was outside.  
“They’re here.”  
That was it, Colin’s face lost colour.  
“How?” he barely got out.  
“We’ll work it out later!” Mark scorned, watching as the van came to a halt at the reception area and the passenger door opened, “now get your ass out to the car! I’ll cover you!”  
Colin hesitated, purely from fear, before making his way to the door. He gingerly leant forward to see where Mark was looking before trying to casually walk out toward the red car. Mark kept his eye on the van’s driver, and when his door opened to shouts from inside Mark stepped out before he could even hear what the shouts were.  
“Six is with him!” the driver paused halfway across the lot, a second man behind him not slowing down.  
Mark raised the gun which made all three men in view stop short. The pause was long enough for Colin to get in and close the door.  
“I wouldn’t make any sudden moves if I were you,” Mark’s voice rose to be sure they could hear him, “I am _really_ pissed off.”  
“We don’t want to cause a scene Mr Miller,” the driver’s hands rose slowly, “we just want Mr Reis back. For his own good.”  
But Mark was paying more attention to the hands of the man behind him. The right one was slowly slipping beneath his coat.  
“How about we let him decide that?” Mark said before aiming at the ground in front of him.  
He fired off a warning shot – just enough to make them jump – before running for the car. A shot of their own hit the trunk before he even had the door open.  
“Get down!” he hissed to Colin as he fumbled starting the car and backing up.  
Two of them had guns now, the driver appearing unarmed as they all ran for the car. Mark took a split second to decide and hit the accelerator. He hit the driver in the hip and ploughed almost head-on into the first gunman. He had to immediately reverse to get around his fallen body, but in the midst of the chaos he pulled up behind the white van.  
“Why are you stopping?!” Colin looked up at him like he was crazy.  
Mark pulled the gun from where he’d dropped it in the door and aimed out the window. It took two tries purely due to adrenaline but he’d soon blown the back tire. Another gunshot hit the trunk before he spun the tires and raced out of the parking lot.  
Colin waited until he thought they were far enough down the main road before lifting his head again to look back at the motel. The three men had been joined by the fourth, but they were more preoccupied with their mortality than coming after them.  
“What now?” Colin asked worriedly as Mark clicked the safety back on the gun and dropped it again.  
“For now we get the hell out of dodge,” he replied simply, “and once we’ve gone far enough we pull over so I can check we don’t have a fuel leak. Then we’re going to have a very interesting phone call with my brother.”  
“You use your car like that often?” Colin raised a brow, wondering at the damage already visible on the front.  
“Only on special occasions.”


	6. Part Six

“What?! How?!” Carey was horrified.  
“I’m pretty sure I know how,” Mark was calling from the side of the road, Colin having disappeared into the trees to exercise more than one bodily function.  
“You don’t think that… shit,” Carey’s hand went into his hair, “they tracked me, didn’t they? They followed me out there.”  
“It’s the only thing that fits,” Mark glanced over his shoulder.  
“I’m a fucking idiot! Where are you now?”  
“Down the road a ways. Not entirely sure where. I figure we’ll be okay if we just find another motel.”  
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Carey couldn’t believe how easily he’d screwed up, and that it could have cost Mark his life, “how’s Colin?”  
“Uh…” Mark looked over his shoulder again, pulling a face at the noises coming from his direction, “not great. He’s probably going to need some clothes soon. Especially if he’s going to vomit all over these ones.”  
“I’ve got some things here he might wear,” Carey pinched the bridge of his nose, “I might see if Emma can drop them off somewhere for you.”  
“Sure that’s a good idea?”  
“It’s all I can think of right now. Does Alex know?”  
“No I called you first.”  
“At least if they’ve put eyes on Colin there they won’t be looking at his apartment,” Carey realised.  
“You hope,” Mark corrected, “we don’t know what their game is, we’re still guessing.”  
“Did they say anything?”  
“They did,” he checked over his shoulder again, “they said they just wanted him, didn’t say anything about me, and that it would be for ‘his own good’. I’m starting to think we might have a liar on our hands.”  
“What do you mean?” he could hear Carey’s frown.  
“I mean two weeks is a long time to spend unconscious unless you’re in a full on coma, you know that very well,” Mark reasoned, “what if he was awake for some of it and just isn’t telling us?”  
“Why would he lie? What does he have to gain from that?”  
“I don’t know, maybe he doesn’t want to remember,” Mark shrugged, “we don’t know what they did to him in there. I mean maybe Jesse was right? What if they were going to pull him apart to see how we tick? We don’t know that they weren’t.”  
“Have you said any of this to him?”  
“No. Figured I might save you the pleasure. He’s not really interested in anything I have to say unless I have a gun in my hands.”  
“You guys need to just lay low for a while. Find a motel, stock up on food and just stay there,” Carey insisted, “once everything with Taylor is sorted out hopefully Colin will be better physically and we can figure out our next move.”  
“Sounds like a plan,” Mark cleared his throat as Colin finally emerged from the trees.  
“Call me when you find somewhere.”  
“Will do,” Mark hung up without saying goodbye.  
“Was that Alex?” Colin was wiping his mouth on his sleeve.  
“Carey,” Mark grimaced, knowing he was going to have to sacrifice that hoodie, “great news, we’re going into hiding. Get in.”  
Colin groaned, but complied.

“Wow,” Isaac appreciated.  
“I know right?” Taylor was staring at the watch as he held it up, “this is probably worth more than your whole wardrobe. I’m going to feel like a model tomorrow.”  
“Well you can certainly play that part,” Zac snatched the watch away to look it over, “are we sure it’s real? Could be a knock-off.”  
“I’m sure it’s real, you should have seen his place,” Taylor insisted, “guy has money to burn. A lot of it.”  
“So why are we helping him again?”  
“It’s not really him we’re helping, it’s the rest of us. I think,” Taylor took the watch back again, “apparently if he didn’t show to this meeting tomorrow it was going to blow up publicly. So… I just have to do my best impression of a stuck up lawyer and hope for the best.”  
“Showing is better than nothing?” Isaac suggested.  
“Sounds like it.”  
“I still don’t like the idea of you going alone,” Zac sighed, “do you know where it is yet?”  
“It’s a restaurant on the water somewhere so hopefully open to the public,” Taylor put the watch back, “I should make it to the studio in plenty of time.”  
“Do you have a plan?” Isaac asked worriedly.  
“I’ll have to talk to Colin before I go in, but I’m just hoping I can bluff my way through it and organise something for when he gets back,” Taylor shrugged, “thinking I might organise a ‘holiday’ to give him some more time, and so I won’t have to come back anytime soon.”  
“Or ever again,” Zac grunted.  
“Or ever again,” Taylor agreed.

“I have a huge favor to ask,” Carey looked worried as he finally pulled Emma into his arms.  
“Oh really?” she mused, deciding against a kiss, “because I didn’t think you were in any position to get said favors just yet.”  
“I’m a little desperate,” he admitted.  
“Of course you are. What is it?”  
“Colin needs some clothes.”  
She let go of him with a scowl and turned away.  
“I’ve got those shirts I bought for job interviews that I can give him, but I can’t take them to him. I need someone else to and you’re the only other person in LA who knows what’s going on right now.”  
“Why on Earth would I…?”  
“You won’t have to see him,” Carey insisted, “I’ll have Mark meet you outside once they find somewhere to stay.”  
“I thought they had somewhere,” she turned back with a frown.  
“They did…” Carey grit his teeth, “but I screwed up. When I went out there they must have tracked me and they found them a couple of hours ago.”  
“Are they okay?”  
“They are, last I heard. Mark got them away in time. They just need to find somewhere else to stay and I have to stay away this time.”  
“So you need someone else to run your errands,” she rolled her eyes.  
“Wouldn’t ask if I had another choice,” Carey insisted, “but it’s not worth Jesse driving all the way here.”  
“No it’s not,” she agreed, obviously not happy.  
“I’ll do whatever you want for like a week when this is over,” Carey promised, “I’ll take you anywhere, I’ll watch you shop for handbags, I’ll even eat at that vegan place I hate.”  
“Interesting proposition,” her eyes narrowed, “for the whole week?”  
“A whole week,” Carey assured.  
She bit her lip as she thought it over. If she didn’t even have to see him… it should be a quick enough run.  
“Fine,” she rolled her eyes again.  
“Thank you! I’ll go find my suits,” he headed straight for the bedroom.

“Hey you,” Mark opened the motel room door before quickly ducking outside.  
“Hey,” Emma was looking over his shoulder in case Colin were nearby.  
“You got them?” he pulled her back.  
“I have,” she held up the bag, “Care packed it so I’m not entirely sure what’s in there. I think it’s mostly what he bought for job interviews and that.”  
“If it fits him it should fit _him_ ,” Mark reasoned.  
“You know it’s been a while since we’ve seen you in a suit,” she mused, “I wonder when that’ll happen again?”  
“Your wedding,” Mark smirked, “but only if you’re lucky.”  
“Lucky as in you might wear a suit or lucky as in I’ll actually have a wedding that isn’t in a Vegas chapel?” Emma pulled a face.  
“The suit thing,” Mark insisted, opening the top of the bag to have a quick look, “the rest will work itself out.”  
“I hope you’re right,” she looked down at her keys.  
“Thanks for this,” he put a hand on her shoulder.  
“Don’t worry, I have Carey well and truly in debt for this,” she smiled, “I’ll make it worth it.”  
“Gonna take him to that vegan place he hates?” Mark mused.  
“Every day for a week,” she grinned, “stay safe Mark.”  
“Look after my brother,” Mark insisted as she walked back to the car.  
He waited until she’d pulled out before heading back inside. He dropped the bag on the table in front of Colin.  
“Clothes. You can have your shower now.”  
“Is there a razor in there?” Colin had a quick look, sick of his beard already.  
“I don’t know and I don’t care.”  
“Was that Emma?” he began sifting through.  
“It was.”  
“So she finally has a job that suits her background?”  
Mark had already been standing behind him, so it was easy to grab him by the hair and snap his head back. Colin froze in shock.  
“You disrespect her, you disrespect my brother,” Mark’s voice was low, “you disrespect my brother? You disrespect me. I don’t think you’re ready to take me on right now. Got it?”  
“Got it,” Colin grit his teeth.  
“Cut the racist bullshit,” Mark let him go, “and in the meantime, you’re going to tell me what you remember from the lab.”  
“What?” Colin looked over his shoulder, rubbing his neck in the process, “I was asleep, I don’t remember anything.”  
“And I’m calling bullshit on that,” Mark took up the other seat and kicked his feet onto the table.  
He rested the gun by his arm for emphasis.  
“I want to know what you remember, and I want to know now,” he insisted, “because they seem to want you back pretty bad.”  
“It was because I refused to sign the contract,” Colin frowned, “they wouldn’t let me leave.”  
“So that accounts for all the wires and tubes and shit you were wearing when I found you,” Mark was sarcastic, “what were they doing to you? Why do they think you’re better off there all of a sudden?”  
“I don’t know!” Colin defended.  
“Don’t fucking lie to me.”  
“I have nothing to lie about because I was never told anything!”   
“You know you’re never going home, right?” Mark’s head tilted, “not as long as they’re after you. You can bet they have eyes on it already.”  
Colin fell silent at that, meeting Mark’s eye.  
“So just maybe…” Mark’s brow rose, “it might be in your best interest to start trusting the people who want to help you. We might be the only ones interested in keeping your ass alive.”  
Colin’s hands fell flat to the table and he looked toward the door.   
“Need more of an incentive?” Mark leant with him.  
“You know what?” Colin squinted a little, “either way this pans out, I’m dead. If I go back to the labs, I’m dead. If Taylor screws up this meeting with Russo tomorrow, I’m dead. I have a lot more to lose than any of you.”  
“Maybe,” Mark agreed, “or maybe we could get rid of the scientists and you can go home and sort out the gangsters yourself.”  
“We won’t get rid of the scientists,” Colin scorned, “they have far too much invested in this project for them to just let us go.”  
“So why let us go in the first place?” Mark shrugged.  
“To follow us,” Colin held up his wrist, showing the scar Mark had given him, “because the bottom line is that we aren’t what they want. They just want to use us.”  
“For what?” Mark frowned, “Carey just assumed they’d want to study us for comparison, or to see how a bio experiment lasts out in the wild.”  
“That’s not it,” Colin shook his head, “they already know their clones can survive, they’ve seen it before and they’ve seen it since.”  
“Then how else could they use us? Aside from Jesse’s fear where they cut us open to find out how we tick?”  
“We aren’t what they want,” Colin repeated, “our experiment was thrown out. What they want is to work out how it went so haywire. They want the people responsible for them not being able to monitor us from birth.”  
“So they think you’re related to Baby Zero?” Mark tried to put together.  
“They don’t know,” Colin shook his head, “and I don’t know. But for them it was all about the birthdays. The older we are, the more likely we were first. Right? I refused to tell them my birthday and they took that as deception. Why would I not tell them my birthday unless I had something to hide?”  
“Do you?” Mark raised a brow, “do you have something to hide?”  
“I don’t know, I don’t know my own birth date!” Colin was visibly upset, “I never have, there were never any records! My parents never knew, or if they did they didn’t tell me.”  
“So how did you manage to get _any_ form of ID, let alone become some high-class lawyer?” Mark frowned.  
“We faked it, it’s not hard,” Colin shrugged, “my father knew how to work the system and we were okay. That doesn’t help me now.”  
“And it doesn’t help us,” Mark stated the obvious, “but if there’s no record, there’s nothing to say you were even related to Baby Zero. Why would they bother interrogating you?”  
“They weren’t. At least not after the first two days,” he admitted, “I was bait.”


	7. Part Seven

“How do I look?” Taylor stepped out into the hotel room.  
“Like every bit the pompous jackass you were always meant to be,” Zac’s brow rose.  
Isaac broke out laughing again.  
“He even smells expensive,” Taylor used the hall mirror to look himself over.  
“What is that?” Isaac asked.  
“I’m not sure how to pronounce it,” Taylor fixed his hair, “Poivre?”  
“Don’t think I’ve even heard of it,” Zac shook his head.  
“Think he’d mind if we borrowed some?” Isaac stood from the bed and went into the bathroom.  
“He probably won’t even notice!” Zac called from the desk chair.  
Taylor leant back a little, able to see Isaac’s reflection in the mirror as he put some on himself.  
“Probably made with tiger urine or something,” he mused, smirking when he saw Isaac pause.  
“Did you call a cab?” Zac asked, having only just arrived in the room.  
“Yeah the desk will call,” Taylor assured, now fixing his sleeves.  
“Have you even looked in the briefcase yet?” Isaac’s voice came from the bathroom.  
“I figured I’d wait until I was in the car. Go for the whole… method acting angle.”  
“Heard anything from Colin?” Zac asked.  
“Not yet, but I have to call him from the cab too.”  
“Make sure you have a change of clothes for us to take to NBC,” Zac insisted, “and anything else you need for the show.”  
“All packed, in Ike’s room.”  
“I can vouch for that!”  
“Great,” Zac set his hands in his lap, “now you just need to make it back.”

Taylor took a deep breath as the cab pulled out, debating how soon he should open the briefcase. He hoped it would at least be paperwork he could understand. Knowing it would be a quick ride to the restaurant, he pulled his earpiece from his pocket and set it in place before using his phone to call Mark’s number.  
He slipped the phone into his inside jacket pocket and stared at the briefcase again as it rang in his ear. Figuring he should be ready, he carefully clicked it open and raised the lid.  
He closed it faster.  
“Taylor?” came someone’s voice, he wasn’t sure who.  
“Where’s Colin?” he almost didn’t get out.  
“It’s me. Are you there?”  
“What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?!”  
There was a pause on the line as Colin must have registered that he’d seen what was in the case.  
“Calm down,” he insisted, “this should be a quick and easy transaction.”  
“Is this why everyone was worried? I mean how many people know about this?” Taylor frowned.  
“No one but you, Russo and his friends right now,” Colin assured, “I need you to stay calm, and I’ll guide you through. Don’t say anything I don’t tell you to.”  
Taylor took another deep breath and resisted the urge to touch his hair. He’d set it just right and didn’t want to blow it already. Before he had a chance to say anything else the cab had arrived at his destination.  
He paid and stepped out, straightening his suit before closing the door. He didn’t recognise anyone outside the building so decided to make his way inside before he could hesitate. He walked through a lounge area before spying a doorman blocking the doorway into what looked like the main eating area. At Colin’s instruction he headed for him.  
“Mr Reis,” the man nodded, “Mr Russo is waiting for you.”  
Taylor quickly checked his watch, worried he’d been late. He was five minutes early.  
“This way please,” the doorman instructed.  
“Say nothing,” Colin ordered, “only address Russo when you see him.”  
Taylor followed the man through to a balcony area. The moment he saw Russo – along with four other burly looking men who may as well have been bodyguards – his back straightened and he had to force himself to keep his chin raised. He didn’t know much more about the man’s exploits other than what he’d seen in the media but that was enough to keep him on edge.  
Let alone knowing what was in the briefcase.  
“Leave us,” Russo dismissed the doorman as Taylor paused by the seat he’d offered, “he’ll have water.”  
Taylor felt a chill creep down his spine at his voice but took a seat. One of the men standing around the table poured him a glass of water.  
“I have questions,” Russo began as Taylor gingerly set the briefcase down beside his chair.  
“I’ll hear them,” Colin assured from the earpiece.  
“The first… is where have you been these past few weeks? My guys have tried to contact you, and nothing. I see that as a sign of disrespect.”  
“Tell him there was a break in at the apartment and my cell phone and laptop were stolen.”  
“There was a break in,” Taylor had to clear his throat already, “at the apartment. My phone and laptop were stolen.”  
“The nice way of saying he lost your number,” one of the men mused in a thick accent, “I hope the merchandise is intact.”  
“Of course it is.”  
“Of course it is,” Taylor relayed, resisting the urge to remove his sunglasses.  
He hoped like hell that Colin was right.  
“May I see it?” Russo gestured with a hand.  
“Pass it to the man to your right, if there is one.”  
Taylor lifted the briefcase to pass over. His eye followed it as the man took it to Russo’s side of the table and dramatically clicked it open. He turned it so only Russo could see, and Russo leant forward to inspect the contents. After shuffling the paper around a little he nodded in satisfaction before it was closed again.  
“Thank you for keeping this safe for me,” he gave Taylor a nod, “you have proven to be a valuable asset.”  
“Thank him.”  
“Thank you,” Taylor gave a short nod.  
“You’re very quiet,” the man who’d moved the briefcase gave him an odd look.  
“Say you’re not feeling well.”  
“I’m not feeling very well,” Taylor frowned a little, taking in Russo’s gaze before deciding to go off script, “in fact I’m thinking I might leave town for another week or so.”  
“Is that right?” Russo simply looked amused.  
“What are you doing?”  
“Yes,” Taylor insisted, the most confident he’d been all afternoon, “I can’t help but feel violated at the apartment having been ransacked like that.”  
He put a hand to his heart.  
“I don’t entirely feel comfortable at home right now. So if you don’t need me in the meantime…”  
“No, no. Take all the time you need,” Russo insisted, “I know myself, the police invade my personal space. I feel violated, I feel unsafe in my own home. Take all the time you need.”  
“As long as you’re back in five months,” the other speaking man insisted, giving Taylor a dark look.  
“Not a problem,” Taylor assured calmly.  
“Enjoy your trip,” Russo smiled, and Taylor was unsure if it were friendly or menacing, “come back to us refreshed and ready.”  
“You can go,” the second man nodded over his shoulder.  
“Ask him about my fee,” Colin sounded annoyed, “he’s not ripping me off again.”  
“I hate to ask…” Taylor’s brow furrowed, having to suddenly stop himself from standing, “but my fee?”  
“Oh yes,” Russo’s expression didn’t change, “how could I forget?”  
He opened the briefcase again and pulled out one of the many bundles of cash inside. He passed it to his handler who then passed it to Taylor. Taylor could feel himself blush slightly as he slid it into his other breast pocket.  
“The rest on your return,” Russo appeared to promise, closing the case again, “good day Mr Reis.”  
Taylor gave him a nod before finally standing to leave. He hated the idea of turning his back on these people but set his sights on the doorman instead. He didn’t speak a word until he was outside and had hailed a cab. The moment the door closed and he’d instructed the driver to head to the NBC studios, Colin was asking him to count the money.  
“I’m not doing that here,” Taylor said between his teeth, feeling his heart racing, “you can wait until I’m in the bathroom or something. Are we done?”  
“Fine.”  
Taylor pulled the piece from his ear and leant back into the seat, not bothering to disconnect the call. Now he had to pull himself together in time for a live show.  
The timing couldn’t be worse.

It was a race into the studio and Zac having been first to spot him was able to cover as he slipped into the dressing room to get changed. Taylor was careful to leave the clothes (and money) in at least a somewhat safe place – inside a guitar case – before ruffling his hair a little and replacing all his jewellery.  
The gig went off without a hitch, Isaac and Zac having come up with a basic script in Taylor’s absence and Taylor just going along with it. The emphasis was put on their current projects and small mentions of their upcoming Christmas album and the rest they managed to bluff. Afterward Taylor helped them get their gear back to the hotel before filling a backpack with Colin’s clothes (and money) and catching a cab back to the apartment.  
Not too worried about being sighted this time as it was well and truly late, he made his way inside before pulling Colin’s key card from his wallet.  
“Mr Reis,” Ronaldo greeted, and Taylor was surprised to see him there so late, “rough night?”  
“Something like that,” Taylor sighed as he waited for the elevator.  
“You have guests.”  
“Excuse me?” Taylor looked up.  
“There are two men upstairs with your wife,” Ronaldo looked surprised to be talking to him, “you must be late for a meeting.”  
“Must be,” Taylor thought out loud as the doors finally opened.  
“Good night,” Ronaldo nodded as he stepped inside.  
Taylor waited until the doors closed before hurriedly pressing for the second floor instead. As the elevator moved his mind raced. He had no way of knowing if the men were friend or foe, but he didn’t want to deal with either. So instead of the original plan of dropping Colin’s belongings back in his apartment, he took them to the locker instead.  
He decided to keep the money in the pocket of the jacket so that if anyone did actually break in, they’d think it was just laundry. He slipped the apartment’s key card back into the bag where he’d found it and closed the locker before pulling out his phone. Once again he dialled Mark’s number.  
“Yeah?” it was obviously Mark who answered this time.  
“Tell him I’ve put his stuff back in his locker, apparently he’s got people upstairs.”  
“What people?” Mark frowned.  
“Uh… his wife and two guys, apparently,” Taylor went to run his fingers through his hair but winced as they got caught in the gel.  
“Have they seen you?”  
“No.”  
“Get out of there. We’ll get Alex on it just in case,” Mark insisted before hanging up.  
Taylor sighed as he put the phone away before taking his advice. He took the elevator back down to the ground floor, ignored a confused Ronaldo on the way out, and hailed a cab to take him back to The Langham. He resisted the urge to look over his shoulder the entire way and didn’t breathe easy again until his hotel room door closed behind him.


	8. Part Eight

“You’ll give him the bad news, right?” Alex was wary, “I mean it was bad enough having to watch-“  
“Yeah I can do it,” Carey rubbed his face tiredly, keeping his voice down as Emma slept in the next room, “is that all? You didn’t see anything else?”  
“I might have… stopped watching,” Alex admitted warily, “but it was over with pretty fast and I don’t think anything else happened. I just made sure Taylor got out in time.”  
“Thanks Alex, I’ll call you later.”  
They said their goodbyes and Carey paused with the phone against his chin. This was not a call he wanted to make, but he guessed that was the point. That was why Alex didn’t want to.  
He took the phone to the window and pulled the curtain aside as he speed-dialled for Mark, eyes to where he’d seen the van driving away the night he’d been attacked. He felt so sure that every time he looked outside now he’d see it there – waiting.  
“What the hell Care it’s late,” Mark’s voice grumbled.  
“I need to talk to Colin,” Carey’s voice stayed down, “and it’s not going to be pretty.”  
“Why? What’s up?”  
“Just put him on the phone.”  
“Fine.”  
He heard Mark get out of bed and take the phone to wherever Colin was. It didn’t sound like he was waking him up.  
“Yeah?” his tired voice came through.  
“Hey Colin, I was just talking to Alex…” Carey closed the curtain again, “he managed to get in to the surveillance cameras at your apartment complex. He saw what was happening while Taylor was there earlier.”  
“Okay,” he didn’t sound overly concerned.  
“They were the same guys who were watching you before we were taken. Colin… they took your wife. I’m sorry.”  
There was silence on the line for a time and Carey began to wonder if Colin had heard him. He eventually heard Colin’s mug being set aside.  
“Thanks for letting me know,” he said calmly.  
“He’s going to try and get through to the labs again and see if she’s there,” Carey quickly offered, “but they haven’t contacted any of us about it yet. At least I don’t think so. I mean Jesse or Taylor would have called-“  
“Thanks,” Colin repeated, “good night Carey.”  
Carey paused at that before figuring he just might want to be left alone.  
“Good night,” he replied before Colin ended the call.

“Everything okay?” Mark asked from over his shoulder.  
Colin held the phone up for him to take back without saying a word. Mark opted to take it and head back to the bed, hoping he could actually get some sleep this time. He hadn’t made it onto the bed yet before a loud crash in the room made him jump. Colin had stood and thrown his coffee mug against the back wall, smashing it. An audible groan followed it and Colin’s hands went to his head.  
“Okay…” Mark muttered to himself, not bothering to sit down, “I’m not offering to talk out our feelings or anything, but you need to tell me what happened.”  
“They took my wife,” Colin’s hands came down to cover his face, “those bastards took my wife.”  
Mark paused.  
“Scientists or mafia…?”  
“Scientists!”  
“Not to belittle your sex life, but wasn’t she mail-order?”  
“Fuck you,” Colin glared in his direction, starting to pace.  
Mark couldn’t help but smirk at finally getting a somewhat emotional response from the man.  
“My life is literally being torn apart and all you people care about are yourselves.”  
“I’m not here for me,” Mark shrugged, “I’d much rather be at home on the couch watching bad TV.”  
“Like you can go home,” Colin scorned, “you’re as much on the run as I am.”  
“Not true,” Mark countered, “they aren’t actively after me yet, they’re just annoyed they can’t track me. You on the other hand… well. They want you bad. Bad enough that it sounds like they’re willing to go to extremes to make you want to turn yourself in.”  
Colin shook his head in response and kept pacing.  
“Where do we even go from here?” his brow furrowed, looking like he was going to be sick, “my whole life is in Chicago. I can’t just pick up and leave. We can’t stay in this seedy motel room for the rest of our lives.”  
Mark pulled a face at that. He’d found it quite clean.  
“What kind of life could I possibly have on the run?”  
“You could fund it easy enough,” Mark pointed out.  
“Fund _what_?! And that’s until they get into my accounts!”  
He jumped when someone banged on the wall behind him. The person in the next room was yelling for him to keep his voice down. He threw his hands in the air in defeat before pacing again.  
“We’ve got a lot to figure out,” Mark reasoned, “that’s not gonna happen in a day. Take a breath, and deal.”  
“Deal,” Colin smirked himself.  
“Sleep on it,” Mark insisted, “I’m sure they’re keeping her safe somewhere. We’ll talk it over tomorrow and sort shit out then.”  
“I’m not going to sleep.”  
“Well I need to,” Mark insisted, “and considering my car’s all we have if we need to run, I need to be able to drive it. So just… settle for the night. We’ll deal. I’m sure everyone else is already coming up with ideas of their own.”

“Are you really that worried?” Isaac frowned.  
“Yes,” Taylor was insistent, “I’m even worried about going to the house let alone to the airport. With what’s been going on with Colin I’m just paranoid about how much they’re actually watching.”  
“But why does it matter?” Isaac was confused, “this isn’t any different to what you would have been doing before they started tracing you. Why would they bother keeping surveillance on your main… places? Like where you usually go?”  
Taylor grit his teeth, glad Isaac couldn’t see him through the phone. They hadn’t told Isaac about what they’d worked out, and he certainly didn’t want to do it over the phone. He was already regretting asking him to fetch his parents from the airport instead of Zac.  
“But if you’re really that worried…” Isaac reasoned when Taylor hadn’t said anything for a while, “I’ll do it, sure. But they’re probably going to want to talk to you.”  
“I can deal with that,” Taylor assured, “get Dad to call me when they’re home safe.”  
“Okay…” Isaac sounded as though he couldn’t think of a reason that they wouldn’t be.  
“Maybe take Zac with you.”  
“Is there something you’re not telling me?”  
“No,” Taylor said a little too quick, “like I said, paranoid. Call me later, okay?”  
“I will. Bye Tay.”  
Taylor set the phone on his desk and stopped to think. He’d barely had five seconds before the phone rang again.  
“Yeah?” he was already worried that something had happened.  
“Tay? Hey. Uh… it’s Jesse.”  
“Hey Jesse,” Taylor leant back a little in relief, “what’s up?”  
“Uh… I lost my job.”  
“I’m sorry,” Taylor frowned.  
“Yeah they didn’t like me just taking off whenever I felt like. Or you know, whenever I’m being kidnapped,” he mused, “and I know this is kind’ve a stretch but I was wondering if you knew of anything going? Like not around you, obviously, but… anywhere really.”  
“What do you do? What did you do?” Taylor corrected himself, feeling silly for never having asked.  
“I’m a mechanic by trade but I can do handy work or yard work.”  
“How far are you willing to travel?” Taylor picked up a pen and pulled over a notepad.  
“As long as I can get there and back in a day I guess. I wouldn’t call unless I was desperate I just figured you might have some contacts down here and you’d get that family’s important and all that…”  
“Sure, sure,” Taylor agreed, “I’ll see what I can do.”  
“Thanks man. And uh… have you heard what’s going on with the other guys? I haven’t heard anything from Carey in over a week.”  
“Oh…” Taylor paused, unsure of what he should and shouldn’t say, “there’s been a lot… going on. Colin’s in a bit of trouble.”  
“Colin? He’s back?”  
“Sort of,” Taylor frowned to himself, “Mark and Carey got him out, with Alex’s help, and he and Mark are kind of on the run now.”  
“Are you serious?!”  
“Yeah… I guess things have just been so crazy they haven’t had time to mention anything,” he quickly covered, “I’m not sure how they’re going, I haven’t heard anything since Monday. I had to go to Chicago to run an errand for him.”  
“Did you have any trouble there?”  
“Not that I know of but I think I came close. Not looking to do it again anytime soon. Hey…” he quickly leant over to grab some paperwork from the other side of his desk, “I just remembered a friend of mine from McAlester quit his job recently to move interstate… that might be a bit of a drive for you but I’m sure his job was further south…”  
“Like I said I’m desperate,” Jesse insisted, “what’s it doing?”  
“Pretty sure it was mechanic work, he worked in a car yard.”  
“And it won’t be weird? Like if the guy knew you?” Jesse had to check.  
“I didn’t know them, it was only an off chance that my friend said something,” Taylor assured, “you should be okay, and it should be far enough from Tulsa to not draw attention.”  
“I’d love anything you could send over, thanks,” Jesse was sincere, “speaking of Tulsa…”  
Taylor sat back again.  
“Have you told Ike yet?”  
“You know I just got off the phone with him,” Taylor scratched at his head, “and no.”  
“Are you going to? Like is this something I have to keep secret forever?”  
“Preferably,” Taylor nodded to himself, “but I’m sure it’ll come out one way or another. We just have to do it right, that’s all.”  
He spun in his chair as the door opened and Natalie popped her head in.  
“You’re not just procrastinating?”  
“Dinner’s ready. Who’s that?” Natalie asked.  
“It’s Jesse, I’ll just be a second,” Taylor promised.  
“Oh tell him the 20th is good for us, if you have nothing planned.”  
“For what?” Taylor had blanked.  
“For dinner with his wife? You invited them remember?”  
“Oh right. Jesse?”  
“I heard,” Jesse mused down the line, “I’ll let her know. Hopefully I’ll have a job by then.”  
“I hope you do too,” Taylor agreed as Natalie disappeared, “I’ll email you everything after dinner. If you don’t have it by morning you’re welcome to call and bug me about it.”  
“Thanks Tay. See you on the 20th!”  
“Bye Jesse.”

“I need to borrow your phone,” Colin told Mark, barely moments after he’d gotten out of bed.  
“For what?” Mark squinted.  
“Because I don’t have mine,” Colin scorned, “I need to organise something online. I was going to email my wife but I guess that’s out now.”  
Figuring he’d pity him just his once, Mark sighed and handed it over. Colin took it back to the table and took a seat. Mark took a look over his shoulder but after seeing a bunch of numbers gave up and headed into the bathroom. Yesterday he’d been lamenting the loss of his life in Chicago and first thing today he was back messing with his accounts.


	9. Part Nine

“You haven’t told him, have you?”  
“I figured that was more a ‘family meeting’ type thing,” Taylor reasoned, “I’d really like you guys to be there. Or you know, to tell him yourselves…”  
Taylor winced a little wondering if his father would pick up the hint.  
“You want us to tell him?” Walker relented.  
“That’d be great!” Taylor jumped on, “I mean this isn’t really _my_ problem to begin with, I just happen to be the one sorta facing the brunt of it at the moment.”  
His father sighed on the other end of the phone and Taylor wondered yet again if he should tell him what had happened with Colin. He again decided against it.  
“Can you come by tomorrow?”  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Taylor admitted, starting to fiddle with a pen.  
“You think you’re being watched?”  
“I know I’m being tracked,” Taylor pointed out, “I don’t want to lead them to you, and I know they’ve been stalking some of the others already.”  
“Have you noticed anything here?”  
Taylor paused at the question. Technically he hadn’t in Tulsa, but it had certainly come close in Chicago…  
“Not yet,” he admitted, “but just because I can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. When I was abducted it took _seconds_ and I had no idea what was happening.”  
“Are you okay?”  
“I am not okay,” Taylor admitted, as if just now coming to terms with it, “I am scared, and I am frustrated, and I’m pissed off! I’m scared they’re going to come for my family, I’m frustrated that it isn’t a problem I can just deal with, and I’m angry because no one ever bothered to tell me this could happen!”  
“What would you have done differently?” Walker asked.  
“I don’t know!” Taylor insisted, “but I would have liked the option!”  
“To do what, exactly?”  
“To keep my family safe for one,” Taylor’s voice lowered from his yell, “how am I supposed to pack up Natalie and five kids if the worst comes? Where would we go? What would we do?”  
“You go as far as you have to,” Walker responded calmly, “just like we did with you and your brother.”  
“And Ike? What about his family?” Taylor demanded, “this will uproot everyone! What about Avie and Mac and Zoe? You think they’ll just be ignored?”  
“I don’t think anything,” Walker assured, “nothing is set in stone. Your mother and I have had a long talk while we’ve been away, and we’re prepared to do whatever is necessary to keep everyone safe.”  
“What does that mean?” Taylor’s eyes darted, “you’re not talking about turning yourselves in.”  
“Not at this stage.”  
“What does that mean?!” now he was panicking for a different reason.  
“Don’t worry,” Walker insisted, “we’re not going to do anything crazy. For now let’s just focus on how we’re going to tell Isaac. I take it he’s met Jesse?”  
“Not Jesse, but two of the others,” Taylor was rubbing his face to try and calm down.  
“Come for dinner tomorrow,” Walker insisted, “we’ll invite Isaac and we’ll all talk it out. Zoe can watch the kids while we do it.”  
Taylor took a deep breath, wanting to refuse. But he knew he couldn’t avoid the situation forever.  
“Okay,” he finally relented.  
“Six sound good?”  
“Six sounds fine. I’ll see you then Dad.”

“Mark?” Carey answered the phone sometime after midday.  
“Guess again.”  
“Colin? What’s up?”  
“I want to organise a meeting.”  
Carey paused with a frown.  
“With who?” he was wary.  
“Yourself, the two of us, and Taylor.”  
“That sounds like really bad idea,” Carey insisted, “you know they’re still tracking both me and Taylor, right?”  
“I don’t mind,” Colin assured, “if this is how they want to come for me, then so be it.”  
“You’re giving up?” Carey’s brow furrowed.  
“I didn’t say that. But there is only so far we can run.”  
“Yeah I was thinking about that…” Carey admitted, “I mean the option is there for you to start over, but they do know what you look like now.”  
“They do.”  
“We just need to think it over a bit more. We’ll come up with something,” Carey was reassuring himself in the meantime, “where’s Mark?”  
“In the shower, I think he’s about to go get some more food. But I am serious. I’d like to speak with you and Taylor, preferably as soon as possible. Of course it will need to be somewhere inconspicuous, we may need to go for a drive.”  
“You think if we’re far enough out of LA they won’t come after us?” Carey didn’t believe it for a second.  
“Not so much that as… we should see them coming if they do.”  
“Daylight?”  
“Preferably.”  
“I’ll see what I can do, if you really want to do this.”  
“I feel it’s integral,” Colin insisted.  
“Okay then,” Carey sighed, “I’ll get back to you.”

“Dad wants us over there for dinner tomorrow night at six,” Taylor slid his fingers through his hair worriedly.  
“That’s sudden,” Natalie observed, “special reason I take it?”  
“They want to tell Isaac what’s going on. The whole story,” his voice lowered so none of the kids could overhear, “and I’m pretty interested in the whole story myself so…”  
“Does Ike know about dinner tomorrow?” Natalie raised a brow.  
“Dad was calling him after he spoke with me,” Taylor’s eyes fell to his phone on the desk as it started to ring, “that’s… probably going to be him now.”  
“Careful what you tell him,” Natalie gave him a pat on the arm for reassurance.  
“I know,” he frowned when he saw the caller ID, “wait. It’s Carey.”  
Natalie paused as he answered the phone, having been about to leave the study.  
“Carey?” he answered, “is everything okay?”  
“It’s not great in Colin’s world,” was his response, “but I’ll save that for later. He wants to meet us somewhere either tonight or in the morning. I figure somewhere between Albuquerque and Amarillo would be best.”  
“Are you kidding?” Taylor frowned, “since when is having us all in the same place a good idea?”  
He still hadn’t told Carey about his and Jesse’s plans, and he wasn’t about to.  
“Hopefully it’s a one-off, but he sounded pretty set on the idea. I don’t know if it’s his idea of a thank you party or what…”  
“It’s a six hour drive.”  
“I know,” Carey didn’t sound enthused either, “but it’s central to all of us, it was the best I could think of.”  
Taylor looked at the clock on his wall, calculating in his head.  
“If I leave in the next two hours I can be there by sundown,” he winced internally, really not wanting to, “text me an address for the GPS.”  
“I’ll get on it right away,” Carey assured before saying goodbye.  
Taylor dropped the phone back to the desk and rubbed his face tiredly. He was going to need caffeine.  
“Where are you going?”  
Taylor jumped. He’d forgotten Natalie hadn’t left, and had subsequently overheard everything.  
“Out into the desert somewhere for a secret meeting,” he shrugged as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just done.  
“With who?”  
“Carey and Colin. Probably Mark,” he bit his lip.  
“And Carey thinks that’s a good idea?” her brow furrowed.  
“It sounded like he took some convincing. Colin seems to be behind this one,” Taylor shook his head, “but it might have something to do with what happened in Chicago so… I kinda have to go.”  
“Is this how it’s going to be?” Natalie was not in the mood, “every time one of them calls, you’re just going to run off now?”  
“That’s not what’s going on,” Taylor frowned.  
“That’s exactly what’s going on,” Natalie disagreed, “you took the band to Chicago for them. At a day's notice. That’s not something you can keep doing.”  
“They agreed!”  
“They weren’t happy about it, believe me,” Natalie insisted, “I had Kate on the phone practically the whole time.”  
“So Zac wasn’t happy,” Taylor shrugged, “I’m not always happy with his ideas either.”  
“Taylor you could have been _killed_ ,” Natalie said between her teeth, “they told me what was going on. D’Angelo Russo?!”  
She abruptly closed the study door behind her.  
“Were you ever going to tell me that?”  
Taylor hesitated, aware that she was getting riled up.  
“I didn’t want you to worry,” was all he came up with.  
“I’m worrying now,” she insisted, “I’m worried about how many more times this is going to happen. I’m worried about the time that you don’t come home. I’m worried about how to explain anything to the kids if something happens to you because of these people!”  
“They aren’t the problem, I swear,” Taylor stood from where he’d been leaning over the desk, “and the real problem isn’t something I can face right now. So I need to counter that, for my own sanity. I don’t want to be caught off guard again with these people.”  
“You knew Mark was coming for you and they still managed to throw you in the back of a van and drag you to Nevada,” Natalie pointed out, “you’re doing a great job so far.”  
Taylor grit his teeth and turned away. He wasn’t ready for this argument.  
“What do you want me to do?” he asked after a moment.  
“I want you to stop and think about what you’re doing, for a start,” she insisted, “and I want you to take the time to stop and think anytime you get one of those calls – stop just saying ‘yes’ only because you want to learn more about them without actually considering what they might be getting you into.”  
Taylor couldn’t argue with the logic.  
“I just…” he stopped to collect his thoughts, unsure of how to make her understand, “…I know they’re in trouble right now, and I know Carey wouldn’t involve me unless he absolutely had to. He never wanted to in the beginning, remember?”  
“Until you were all kidnapped, now it seems to be a free for all,” Natalie held back rolling her eyes.  
“I don’t believe that. I think this is a sign of desperation,” Taylor disagreed, “and considering we can count on our fingers how many people even know that this is going on… maybe they don’t have anywhere else to turn? How can I turn my back on that?”

Carey was already in the car when Alex called back. Fumbling for a moment with the phone he managed to get it between his ear and shoulder without swerving out of his lane.  
“I’m on my way to Amarillo, what’s up?” he frowned.  
“I’ve been working my way through some of the files I managed to poach from the labs,” Alex’s reply was full of static but he managed to make it out, “I think you might be interested in something I’ve found. A few things, in fact.”  
“Hit me,” Carey was already debating whether he should pull over.  
“Well there’s a bunch of research and files on each of us, which was to be expected,” Alex rattled off, “including past surveillance and… I guess they were trying to work out our schedules? They were watching us for about a month before we were taken.”  
“Did Mark’s trip to Tulsa instigate the abductions?” Carey frowned.  
“There’s nothing to confirm it but I wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe they thought us becoming self-aware was dangerous and wanted to contain it before it got out of hand.”  
“That doesn’t explain why they let us go.”  
“No, and I think we need to talk to Colin about that a bit more,” Alex agreed, “I’m with Mark in that I think he knows more than he’s letting on. I’ve got surveillance showing him awake days after we were freed.”  
“I’ll get on that tonight,” Carey promised, “what else?”  
“I think I found number seven.”


	10. Part Ten

“What? Where is he? Do they have him?!” Carey fired off, struggling to control the car all of a sudden.  
“I don’t think they have him, but remember this data’s a week old already,” Alex reminded him, “it’s a bit weird because I don’t think he’s American.”  
Carey paused at that, taken aback.  
“What?” was all he could get out.  
“Half the file is in another language and I’m not sure which it is yet,” Alex amended, “I think it’s French but… I was never good with languages.”  
“Is there an address?”  
“Maybe? I think… yeah. But it’s in French. I gotta assume he’s still in Europe.”  
“Okay, I’ll uh…” Carey struggled to find the words, “I might get back to you on that. I’ll call you when we’re done tonight.”  
“You’re not driving back tonight are you?”  
“We’ll see what happens. If it gets too late there should be a motel on the way somewhere.”  
“Right. Well. Take care,” he sounded like he wanted to keep going, “give Colin the benefit of the doubt tonight, okay?”  
“What does that mean?” Carey frowned.  
“Nothing,” Alex assured, “good luck.”

Taylor was the first to arrive, and he had to triple check the GPS to make sure it was the right stretch of road. His paranoia started to heighten when he finally saw another car in the distance knowing they’d only be coming down this road either for the meeting or for something more sinister.  
When he recognised it as the car that ran him off the road in Tulsa his heart didn’t slow down.  
He opened his door and got out to wait, thinking how it was lucky they’d made it before nightfall. The car still bore the brunt of having hit the walls in Mark’s effort to hit him and he was missing his left headlight altogether. Mark shut the car off as he pulled up behind him but he wasn’t the first to get out.  
The man didn’t bother with pleasantries before taking off the black jacket he wore and throwing it back into the car. He unbuttoned the white shirt a little as Mark got out before making his way to Taylor’s car first.  
“You must be Taylor,” he held out a hand, “Colin Reis.”  
“I must be,” Taylor shook it, sizing him up a little, “Carey said you wanted to meet us here.”  
“I did, but I’ll wait until he gets here to say why,” Colin looked over his shoulder to where Mark was making his way closer.  
“Taylor,” he nodded.  
“Mark,” he returned, opting to keep his eye on him.  
“Thanks for what you did. In Chicago,” Colin pulled his attention back, “I wouldn’t have even thought to ask.”  
“We got something out of it,” Taylor shrugged, hugging himself, “and it was kinda fun. Sorry you couldn’t do it yourself.”  
“Yes…” Colin agreed, looking back down the road as another car approached.  
“That’s Care,” Mark stepped out onto the road to wave him down.  
Taylor let out a sigh of relief, glad he didn’t have to spend too long there without him. It was weird enough looking Colin in the eye without being left alone with someone who’d tried to kill him.  
Carey pulled his car up behind Mark’s, fiddling with something before finally getting out. He set the alarm before making his way through to Taylor’s SUV.  
“Am I late?” he asked, almost worried.  
“Barely,” Colin brushed off, “I’m glad you’re here.”  
“This is getting touchy feely,” Mark was unsure, leaning back against his hood.  
“So… why are we here?” Carey slid his phone into his pocket as he stood between the cars, “what couldn’t be done over the phone?”  
“I’m not entirely sure your phones haven’t been compromised already,” Colin admitted, “I’d prefer to consolidate this in person.”  
“Consolidate what?” Taylor was confused.  
“This morning I wired a million dollars into each of your accounts.”  
“You what?” Carey’s brow rose as Taylor’s eyes darted to him.  
Mark immediately pulled out his phone.  
“I don’t like feeling indebted to anyone,” Colin explained, “and the three – four – of you have done me a service.”  
“Alex has it too?” Taylor checked.  
Colin nodded in response.  
“Holy shit!” Mark jumped up, bringing his phone over to show Carey, “Care I’m a fucking millionaire! Is this for real?!”  
“It is,” Colin’s hands went into his pockets, “a small token of my appreciation for your work.”  
“Small?! Care! You can pay off your loans! You could buy Emma a _house_.”  
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Carey insisted, “that’s why you brought us out here? To tell us you’ve made us millionaires?”  
“In a small sense,” Colin shrugged, “I also wished to thank Taylor in person for his help with my little conundrum in Chicago.”  
“I wouldn’t have called it ‘little’,” Taylor looked uneasy, “you’re in with the mob.”  
“It’s not something I like to share, for obvious reasons,” Colin considered, “and I’d appreciate you all keeping it to yourselves. My relationship with D’Angelo is mutually beneficial and doesn’t take up much of my time. It started as a hobby.”  
“Joining the mob was a _hobby_ to you?” Taylor leant forward in disbelief.  
“I never actually joined,” Colin corrected, “I only do odd jobs for them here and there.”  
“Have you ever killed anyone?” Mark pulled his eyes from his phone.  
“No,” Colin replied instantly.  
“Where’s the fun in that?” Mark muttered, going back to his car.  
“While it was fun to play for an afternoon…” Taylor stood up from the car, “I do hope I never have to do it again. I need to get back home.”  
“Hold up a second, I have something I need to say before anyone leaves,” Carey insisted before he could walk away, “but what’s your plan now? What are you going to do?”  
“Disappear,” Colin looked forlorn, “I have a few properties here in the south I can use as safe houses. There should be no electronic record of them for the scientists to find.”  
“And your wife?” Carey asked.  
Colin shrugged.  
“As far as they’re aware, I don’t know they have her,” he reasoned, “perhaps if this doesn’t go their way they’ll eventually release her.”  
“I thought you didn’t want to run?” Mark’s voice came from behind, slightly hidden in shadow now that the sun was going down.  
“I don’t have a choice. I see that now,” Colin nodded to himself, “all I know is that I can’t go back.”

A sharp crack to the front of Taylor’s car made his head snap toward the sound.   
“What was that?” Mark stood up again, about to head down the other side.  
Taylor was about to step out and investigate when a man in black appeared from behind the SUV.  
“FREEZE!” he yelled, gun trained on Taylor.  
“Whoa!” Taylor reactively stepped back.  
“We got some back here too,” Mark was backing up between the cars, his hands raised slightly.  
Carey looked over his shoulder to see two figures appearing from the shadows, both with guns trained on Mark.  
“Hands where we can see them!”  
“They followed you,” Colin realised aloud, backing onto the road.  
“We just want Mr Reis!” the one behind Taylor insisted, “the rest of you are free to go!”  
“Why?” Carey demanded, not having moved from where he stood at the back of the SUV, “why him and not us? What’s so damn important?!”  
“Calm your tits Care, they’re just following orders,” Mark had made it back to the group, “aren’t you? Is Morris behind this?”  
“Stay out of this Mr Miller,” one of them scorned.  
“I’m not going back,” Colin shook his head, the only one not bothering to raise his hands, “I can’t.”  
“Sorry about your tire,” Mark was smirking, “didn’t think you’d get it back on the road this fast, but…”  
“Move aside Mr Hanson,” the gunman sounded like he wasn’t sure he had the name right, “move against the car.”  
“They aren’t real guns,” Mark observed, raising his voice.  
“What?” Carey looked over his shoulder again as Taylor moved back beside him.  
They both studied the guns trained on them, realising they held tranquiliser darts.  
“That means they don’t want us dead,” Mark’s eyes met his brother’s.  
It certainly calmed Taylor somewhat. But Colin was only looking more and more panicked. Before anyone could react Colin had darted forward and stolen Mark’s gun from the back of his belt before he could defend it.  
“Whoa whoa wait!” Mark’s voice rose as Colin armed it and backed off.  
“What are you doing?!” Carey frowned, his own heart racing as the gunmen closed in.  
“I’m not going back,” Colin repeated, “like I said, I’m dead either way.”  
“That’s bullshit and you know it!” Mark insisted, a hand out to pacify him, “give me the gun.”  
“Do not give him the gun!” the man behind Taylor ordered, Taylor staying flat against the SUV.  
“Give me the gun,” Mark repeated, staring Colin in the eye, “give it to me and I can make this all go away.”  
“Put it on the ground!” one of the men behind Mark ordered, “put it down and back away!”  
“You can’t make this go away,” Colin shook his head, and they could see the water in his eyes, “no one can. This is who we are. This is _what_ we are. We can’t run from this.”  
“What are you saying?” Carey’s eyes were on the gun as it waved back and forth.  
“I’m saying there’s no fucking point!”  
“Please, Colin, calm down,” Taylor begged, unsure of where this was going but his sense of urgency at a high.  
“Don’t you tell me that,” Colin’s eyes locked to his, “not you of all people. This is going to happen to you too, and your life will never be the same. You think it’s bad now?”  
He raised the gun.  
“Just wait and see.”  
“COLIN NO!” Carey darted forward in time to be too late.  
Colin had set the gun against his head and pulled the trigger.  
“FUCK!” Mark darted forward at the same time, causing the gunmen to open fire.   
One hit Mark in the throat as he made it to Colin’s side, making him fall to his knees.  
“Holy shit,” Taylor’s hands went to his head, his eyes wide.  
He didn’t have time to comprehend anything but the sight of blood before rough hands spun him and slammed his body against his car. The other two were already on Carey, figuring Mark was down for the count.  
“LET US GO!” Carey was screaming now, “YOU did this! We could have _helped_ him! We could have saved him!”  
Taylor felt his hands once again being tied, this time behind his back. He was too dumbstruck to put up a fight. Carey was suffering the same treatment only on his knees. Once one of the gunmen had him secure, the other had gone to check on Colin.  
“Take the SUV,” he ordered, the man holding Taylor instantly checking his pockets for the keys, “I’ll stay behind and clean up.”  
“You assholes,” Carey said between his teeth, before jolting as his handler shot a dart into his neck at point blank range.  
Knowing fighting would do no good he took deep breaths as he waited for the sedative to work. Taylor watched as they let him fall to the ground before bringing the tranquiliser gun to him.   
“Were you ever going to let us go?” Taylor’s voice was shaky as he looked the man in the eye, “or was this all some kind of elaborate prank?”  
“We weren’t expecting this,” he admitted uncharacteristically, “we’re just going back to regroup. Hold still.”  
Taylor jumped as the dart went into his neck, unable to deflect it with his hands. He instantly felt dizzy but they still slid the hood over his head again. He was manhandled into the back of his car and pushed along the seat until he felt his head hit the opposite window. He heard the rustle of footsteps rushing around outside, but that was all. He was out.


End file.
